


The Birds and Bee

by APlatonicCompanion



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bottom Harry, Charming Harry, Eleanor wins no mom awards ever, F/F, F/M, Famous Zayn, Fireman Liam, Gemma Niall Liam Zayn Louis and eventually harry are the literal village it takes to raise a child, M/M, Past Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson, Protective Liam, Teacher Harry, Why Did I Write This?, Zayn wants to get married, anne is a true angel, eleanor is hardly in it for real, lots of cute cuddling between almost every character combo you can think of., louis is dad of the year 2k15, stressed out superdad Louis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-03-26 17:31:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3858931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/APlatonicCompanion/pseuds/APlatonicCompanion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At 18, at phone call from a nurse at the county hospital changed Louis's life.  Now, at 22, a boy with wild hair and a knack for crafts changes it all over again.</p><p>Or the one in which Louis is a single dad; Liam, Zayn, Gemma, and Niall are the village; Harry is a wild-haired, tattooed art student who teaches an after-school program; Anne is a pre-K teacher; and Elizabeth wants someone to call Mommy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 9 to 5

**Author's Note:**

> This story is so special to me. I hope you all enjoy it (: 
> 
> Text messages within the story are in bold.

“My name is Elizabeth and my favorite movie is The Amazing Spiderman,” Elizabeth announced proudly when it was her turn to say something about herself. She had been so worried about coming up with a good fact that she had stayed up past her bedtime taking suggestions from her father on things she could say.

Elizabeth’s teacher raised her eyebrows. “Really? Well, why don’t you tell us what you like about The Amazing Spiderman,” Mrs. Twist suggested.

Elizabeth bit her lip, not having thought about the answer to this question. “Well. . .” she began, “I like a lot of movies, but my dad likes Spiderman and we went to see the movie together. That’s why it’s my favorite.” She said with a smile. 

Mrs. Twist smiled widely as well. “That’s a very good reason, Elizabeth. Let’s have a round of applause, kids, parents, for Elizabeth. Okay, who’s next?”

Every four-year-old in the room waved their hand in the air, reaching to be chosen over their neighbor. Mrs. Twist had just called on a boy named Peter when the bell rang for lunch. 

“Oh, darn!” she exclaimed exaggeratedly. “It looks like we’ll have to pick up learning about each other after lunch. Kids, why don’t you find your parents and we’ll all line up for lunch together.”

As soon as the words were out of Mrs. Twist’s mouth, Elizabeth was darting across the room into the arms of her father. 

“Daddy!” she called, “are you going to stay for lunch?”

Louis grabbed her under the arms and swooped her up. “Bee, we talked about this. . .”

“I know, Dad, but you said _maybe._ You said “Maybe I can stay for lunch”.”

Louis instantaneously felt awful for having to leave Elizabeth on her first day of school. 

“You remember what we talked about, baby? I have to leave so I can work really hard at school for one more year, and then I’ll be done and I can be here for all of your parent days, okay?”

“But Dad. . . Everyone else’s parents get to stay the whole day,” she said in a tiny voice as she looked at the line of kids, all holding onto the hands of their parent or parents, speaking in excited voices about the friends they had already made so far. 

“I know, baby,” Louis said around the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry.”

Elizabeth nodded in acceptance of his apology even though tears were already starting to slide down her cheeks.

Before Louis could take back his decision to leave, before he could pull her tight and say “never mind, I’ll never leave you”, Mrs. Twist walked over and placed a gentle hand on Elizabeth’s back.

“Everything okay over here, Bee?” she asked quietly? 

The small girl rubbed at her already-red eyes with her fists.

“She doesn’t want me to leave. I have class at noon,” Louis whispered.

Mrs. Twist nodded understandingly and turned her attention to Elizabeth.

“You know, honey, your daddy’s friend Gemma is my little girl.”

“I know,” Elizabeth mumbled.

“Mm-hmm. She’s a little older than you are but I still miss her every day that I don’t see her, just like your daddy is going to miss you when he leaves in a minute.”

Elizabeth continued to stare at her.

“So what do you say you hold my hand on the way to lunch, that way your daddy can go to class and I can tell you all about my little girl, Gemma?”

Elizabeth considered it for a moment before she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded. 

“Okay!” Mrs. Twist exclaimed with a big smile. “Do you want to say goodbye then?”

Louis was afraid that the mention of goodbye would bring a new wave of tears, but it didn’t. Instead, Elizabeth sniffled one last time before she turned to Louis and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. 

“I’ll miss you,” she said in her sweet voice.

“I’ll miss you, too.”

She placed her hands on either side of Louis’s face. “I’ll see you later, yes?”

“Yes, you will,” he confirmed in a mock-serious tone. “You behave yourself, okay?”

“Gotcha,” she answered. “I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you too, baby. Now, remember everything about the rest of your day so you can tell me later.”

“I will!” she agreed.

Then, Louis lowered her to the ground so she could take hold of Mrs. Twist’s hand. 

“And don’t forget Mrs. Twist is going to bring you to me after school!”

“I won’t.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Twist,” he whispered to the teacher. 

“Hey, no problem,” she said genuinely with a hug. “And it’s Anne now. I’m not your teacher anymore.”

Louis nodded and chuckled, vaguely remembering when she had in fact been his teacher and her name was Ms. Cox. He watched as Anne gently pulled Elizabeth along to the front of the line, and he reached his hand toward her and caught the kiss Elizabeth blew over her shoulder. Then, slowly, the line of people filed out the door and disappeared around the corner toward the cafeteria, leaving Louis alone in the classroom, wishing he was going with them. His heartache was interrupted when he caught a glimpse of the oversized digital clock above the classroom door as it blinked 11:37. With a huff, he pulled his backpack out from under the chair he had been sitting in and hiked it up onto his shoulder.

* * *

“What do you have that has no dairy, no wheat, and no shellfish?”

Louis had to try his hardest to avoid rolling his eyes. He’d always thought that people with shellfish allergies would have more sense than to come to a restaurant called The Lobster Trap.

“Well,” Louis began, “we do have a wonderful lobster salad. I could have them hold the lobster if you want to try that,” he suggested.

“That _does_ sound wonderful. . . but could you have them replace the lettuce with arugula?” the woman beamed up at him. “And could you be a dear and bring me another sweet tea, no ice?”

Louis glanced down at the almost-full glass of tea she had in front of her.

“I didn’t know you didn’t have crushed ice here. They really should list that in the menu somewhere, don’t you think?”

Louis clenched his teeth behind his best fake smile. “I guess they should. I will bring that up to the manager. Let me go put this order in and I’ll be right back with your tea.”

As soon as Louis walked away with her menu in hand, the woman was squirting Purell onto a napkin and wiping the table down with a look of disgust on her face. 

“Can you tell Jack I need a lobster salad, sub arugula, hold the cheese, hold the dressing, hold the croutons, hold the lobster,” he said into the order window. Seconds later, a chestnut-colored coiffure popped into view.

“So a plate of lettuce?” Niall, Louis’s friend and service partner, asked.

“No, a plate of _arugula,_ ” Louis corrected sarcastically while he pulled the tap lever and waited for his tea glass to fill up. “I swear, the second I quit here is the second I stop losing brain cells.”

“I hear ya,” Niall called from somewhere else inside the kitchen. 

Trying to avoid walking back to table 26, Louis stared at the woman as she reached for the little carousel that held the list of daily specials and the restaurant’s assortment of specialty alcoholic drinks. “If she even thinks about ordering dessert, I’m going to shoot myself,” Louis said, deadpan. 

“Don’t do that,” Niall said as he came out of the swinging kitchen doors, drying his hands on the white towel he had tucked in the pocket of his apron. “The managers would probably make us all stay late to clean it up.”

Louis gave a sarcastic “Ha. Ha.” before he scurried off to drop off the glass of tea, not pausing long enough for the woman to ask for a gluten-free, chocolate-free chocolate cake. He picked up the check from table 24 and collected his tip from table 30. Once he was safely back by the cash registers, he looked down at the tip money he had picked up.

“Hey, Ni?” He called excitedly.

“Yeah?” Niall answered from an empty booth where he was checking his cell phone.

“That giant party of volleyball players at table 30 left us a hundred dollar tip.”

“You’re kidding!” Niall said.

“No, look,” Louis insisted, holding out two fifty-dollar bills. “They weren’t even difficult. They all drank water,” Louis said, still amazed. After a few moments, he slid Niall his half of the money and stuck his own bill in the pocket of his apron. Niall just stared at the money on the table, then after a few seconds, he slid it back.

“You keep it,” Niall said coolly. 

Confused, Louis shook his head. “That’s your half. Take the money.”

Niall scooted himself out of the booth and shoved the money into Louis’s apron pocket. When Louis stared at him, wide-eyed, Niall waved him off as if to say _Don’t be stupid_. 

“That woman probably isn’t going to tip you anyway. It’s not a big deal. Take Bee out for ice cream for her first day of school. It’s on me.”

Louis shook his head. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know,” Niall said with a shoulder shrug. “I want to. Now quit being sappy, your salad’s ready.” Niall pointed to the order window, where there was in fact, a plate of arugula sitting all by itself.

Louis sighed, knowing he would eventually have to deliver it, but completely not wanting to. Just as he gathering the momentum to make himself move, he felt an arm around his shoulders.

“Hey,” Gemma’s voice said into his ear. Louis had never been so happy to hear her in his life.

“Oh, my God, you’re here!”

“Not God, just Gemma,” she mumbled. Gemma tied her apron around her waist and swiped the plate out of the window, checking the paper underneath to see which table it needed to be delivered to. “26,” she whispered to herself. 

“Are you good to cover for me for twenty minutes?” Louis asked sweetly. 

Gemma glared at him. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“I’m sorry,” Louis said, backing away in surrender, untying his apron as he went.

Gemma let her face soften, cracking a smile. “Mom is here. Go see your baby.”

Louis gave her the biggest smile he could and bounced forward to kiss her on the cheek. “You’re the best!”

“I know, I know,” she said, waving him away. Then, she looked down at the plate she was holding. “Is this just lettuce on a plate?”

“It’s _arugula_ ,” Niall corrected.

Louis hurried as fast as he could to the front of the restaurant. He waved hello to the hostess, Brittany, on his way out and was met immediately by Anne’s silver Volkswagen. Before Louis could even say hello to Anne, Elizabeth was unbuckling her seatbelt and freeing herself from her car seat, eager to see her dad. Louis held up one finger to signal that she needed to wait just a second before he came to get her. She politely sat back into her car seat and bounced her legs around out of excitement.

“Hey,” Louis said. “How did it go? Was she okay?” He asked Anne quietly.

She leaned into the rearview mirror and began pulling out bobby pins to let her dark hair down from its chignon. Once her hair was all free-flowing, she raised her sunglasses to the top of her head. “I think she did fine, Louis, I really do. . .”

“What does that mean?”

Anne sighed. “She got a little sad again when we came back from lunch and you weren’t there. . . but I promise it’s normal, Louis. A lot of the other kids are going to go through it tomorrow when their parents have to leave them at school for the whole day. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

Louis had to remind himself that Anne was a professional and her advice could be trusted. 

“Alright,” he ceded, “if you’re sure.”

“I am.”

Louis walked around the back of the car and opened Elizabeth’s door. Immediately, she reached her arms out so she could be picked up and Louis did as she wished, putting her on one hip and slinging her miniature-sized purple sequined backpack over his shoulder. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Bee,” Anne said through her window. 

“What do you tell Anne?” Louis whispered.

“Thank you, Anne,” Elizabeth said in her most sincere tone. 

“You’re very welcome, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon. Bye, Louis.”

Louis leaned through her window and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she turned the music back up and drove toward the parking lot exit. 

As soon as Anne was out of sight, Elizabeth began gushing about her day and how much fun she had at recess and a little girl named Tawny who had really pretty blonde hair, thus Elizabeth just _had_ to be her best friend. Louis carried her to the booth that Niall had occupied and sat her across from him in a booster seat Niall had left behind for her. When she was between tables, Gemma brought Louis a glass of water, Bee a Styrofoam cup of apple juice, her favorite, and a couple of the kids’ menu coloring pages. Louis colored a picture of the restaurant’s mascot, Lucas the Lobster, and tested Bee on the names of colors (Louis was sure to inform Gemma and Niall of the fact that Elizabeth could identify every color in her little box of crayons). He was content to sit and color silly coloring pages and listen to Bee speak excitedly about anything and everything, but twenty minutes isn't a lot of time when you’re doing what you want to be doing. He kissed Bee on the forehead and said he loved her before he tied his apron back on to finish his shift. 

Finishing that last hour was the hardest thing he’d ever done. The booth he had left Elizabeth in was visible from every angle in his section and he took advantage of that, glancing at her every other second. Sometimes when Louis was in a hurry to get out, Gemma would help him wait on his tables until all of their checks were settled, but unfortunately, she had just gotten a party of six from Wyoming who had never heard of anything on the menu and needed a detailed explanation of every item. After taking nearly 45 minutes to eat her salad, Allergy McGee finally left, leaving a two-dollar tip and a note on the table to inform Louis that her glass had terrible water stains. Louis rolled his eyes and tore up the napkin she had written on. He stuck the money in his apron.

Louis breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Brittany seating an elderly couple in his section. That was her making up for giving him the unpleasant one earlier. Before he left to take their drink orders, Louis stopped by Bee’s table to check on her. She handed him a page out of her menu that she said Gemma had helped her tear out. It was her own picture of Lucas the Lobster, with the colors generally in the right vicinity, just not so much inside the lines.

He was still smiling at the picture when he neared the elderly couple, who were looking over their menus in a way that Louis could tell meant they were going to order what they had ordered for the past 20 years, no matter what. He quickly folded the paper and stuck it into the pocket of his black pants. 

“Hello, my name is Louis and I will be your server this evening. What can I get you guys to drink?”

“Well, hi, Louis. I’ll take an unsweet tea with a lemon slice please,” the man said.

“And I’ll have a lemonade, please,” the woman answered. 

“Alright, I have an unsweet tea and a lemonade coming right up,” Louis said as he scribbled down their order in his notepad. “I’ll get you your drinks and I’ll be right back to take your order.” He flashed them a genuine smile and turned to leave, but the woman called to him.

“Is she yours?” she asked.

Confused, Louis tilted his head.

“The little girl who colored the picture,” she clarified. “Is she yours?” the woman repeated with a wide grin that made her eyes squint. 

Louis grinned back at her. “Oh, yes. She’s my daughter. Today was her first day of pre-K.”

The woman clutched her chest. “How sweet!” she said. Her husband laughed.

“It’s not often you see a young man taking care of his kid like that. God bless you, Louis.”

Louis felt himself blush. “He already has, sir. I’ll be right back with your drinks,” he said.

Both the man and the woman ordered the shrimp scampi, which Louis thanked God for because it was one of the fastest things the chefs could bang out. Louis tried his hardest not to rush them, and he didn’t, but they sensed his eagerness and offered to take the check before they were finished eating. They paid in cash and left Louis a generous tip, which he thanked them for before he turned to untie his apron for the last time. When he got to the back of the restaurant, Elizabeth was waiting with Gemma by her side, her sparkly backpack on and her little Styrofoam cup in hand. 

“What do you say, Captain, are you ready?” Louis asked her.

“Yes! I’m ready!” She exclaimed, jumping up and down. 

Louis laughed and nodded. “Alright, give me five seconds and I’m ready to go.”

Louis slipped into the kitchen and clocked out at the computer in the back corner. He took out Niall’s money from the pocket of his apron and counted it quickly just to make sure it was right, and then he added in the 50 Niall had refused earlier, shoving all of it into the vent slot in Niall’s locker. Louis knew he would probably receive an angry text message from Niall later on about not taking the money, but he didn’t care.

When he reached Elizabeth again, he reached for her hand and they were headed out the door.

“I’m starving. Are you starving?” He asked her. 

“I want spaghetti,” she said.

“That’s just what I was thinking,” Louis told her. “Spaghetti it is.”

Louis laughed at the excitement in her eyes as she took huge steps to keep up with her father, her light brown curls bouncing with the motion. When they passed the old couple finishing up their meal, Louis paused for the briefest second to say “you guys have a great night” and wave goodbye to them, and they laughed when Elizabeth copied him, waving wholeheartedly. 

* * *

Gemma climbed into her car and listened to the hollow sound of her brother not answering his phone. When the ringing finally stopped, Gemma was put through to voicemail.

“Hey!” she said into the phone angrily. “I’m off of work, and I have your favorite food, but hey, I guess you could just keep ignoring me. That’s fine. I’m coming to your apartment. Bye.”

She pressed End and placed her phone in the cup holder, where it almost always went. Harry had recently gotten into the habit of taking excessively long showers, losing track of time, and Gemma was sure that’s what he was up to at 11:00 PM on a Monday. Under normal circumstances, Gemma would probably leave Harry a message saying, “you snooze, you lose” and take her two servings of shrimp alfredo to her own house, but the truth was she would rather be anywhere other than her house at present. Her roommate had very recently fallen in love and taken to having very loud, very raucous sex at all times of the night, which kind of made Gemma either want to (a) throw up in her mouth, or (b) commit murder. So, while she was unwilling to admit it in these exact words, she was, for all intents and purposes, living with her little brother until her lease ran out or Chelsea’s relationship fell apart, whichever came first. 

Gemma drove the six blocks to Harry’s apartment building, Vandergriff Suites, and pulled into a parking spot she probably needed a permit for. She punched in the 4-digit code to open the front door and took the elevator the third floor where Harry lived. When she reached apartment 327, she knocked once, knowing no one would answer, and then she pulled the spare key down from the top of the door jamb and let herself in. Inside, she could hear the shower running. With the heel of her hand, she banged on the bathroom door.

“I’m here! Please don’t come out naked!” She yelled into the door.

“HUH?”

“IT’S GEMMA. PUT A TOWEL ON BEFORE YOU COME OUT.”

Gemma heard some fumbling inside the bathroom, followed by silence after the water was turned off. She heard the tiny squeaks wet feet make on steamy tile then the _swoosh_ of a towel being pulled off the rack. When Harry opened the bathroom door, Gemma was hit with a wave of hot steam that nearly made her faint.

“Jesus,” she said. “How long have you been in there?”

Harry stuck his head out the door. “What time is it?”

Gemma checked her watch. “11:18.”

“Oh,” Harry said with relief. “It’s been an hour, hour-fifteen.”

It worried Gemma that that was a relief. She shook her head quickly. “Anyway,” she said. “I brought food.”

While Gemma set out the food on the coffee table, Harry disappeared into his room and reappeared less than a minute later, now wearing sweatpants with his towel draped over his bare shoulders. 

“How long are you planning on staying here again?” Harry asked as he toweled off his hair.

Gemma came out of the kitchen carrying forks and some paper towels, just in case. “My lease is up at the end of September. I was hoping I could stay here, just until then,” she answered, giving him a big cheesy smile.

Harry gave a slight chuckle and smiled back. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. I just thought that if you’re going to be here for a while, we should probably, like, get you a bed to sleep on.”

“You mean it?” she asked sincerely.

“Of course. You’re my sister,” He said. “Except, after your lease is up, you’re going to have to pay half the rent,” he added.

“Damn,” she whined humorously. 

“Mmm,” Harry hummed around the giant forkful of pasta in his mouth. “You’re also going to have to start pulling your hairs out of the shower drain. Your hairs are, like, blue; you can’t pretend they’re mine anymore.”

“Fine,” Gemma agreed. “But _you_ have to chew with your mouth closed.” She reached over and closed his jaw with her hand, to which he replied by opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out, see-food style. 

“Ew!” Gemma exclaimed as she threw her wadded-up paper towel at Harry.


	2. Seems Like Old Times

Louis had always found it remarkable how, no matter what time he fell asleep, it always felt like he had only had his eyes closed for ten minutes before his alarm clock was blaring in his ear. Of course, he knew that was impossible as he had clear proof of the time when he woke up, but if it weren’t for that, he would be looking for someone to sue for the exhaustion he felt every morning. 

However, this morning wasn’t so hard for Louis to deal with. On the morning of Elizabeth’s fourth birthday, Louis sat across from his daughter, who was already filled with excitement at seven in the morning. She ate her homemade strawberry pancakes and gushed about her birthday party. 

“Dad, can I pick out my own clothes?”

Louis’s eyes went wide at the memory of the last time he had let Elizabeth dress herself and she had come out looking like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

“Uh,” he stalled. “I think we’d better put you in the outfit that your uncle Zayn bought for you, don’t you agree?”

Bee imagined the outfit for a minute before she got excited all over again and nodded enthusiastically. Not more than five minutes after that, she was chugging the last of her milk and practically pulling Louis out of his seat to get her ready for school.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” Louis giggled as he pushed himself up from his chair and scooped her up into his arms to carry her to her room. Once inside, he kicked the toys out of the way to make a path to the closet. He pulled out the items of clothing he had received in the mail from Zayn a couple of days before, expressly asking Louis to let Bee wear them on her birthday. 

Elizabeth made quick work of excitedly yanking off her nightgown to step into the black skinny jeans with little holes ripped in the knees, a touch Zayn had surely added himself. Louis helped her to find the armholes of the white t-shirt with a pocket and pulled it down over her head of long curly locks. She pushed her hair out of her face with her tiny hands before she placed them on Louis’s shoulders to balance herself while he put her black boots on one at a time. When she was all zipped up, he added the final touch, a little plaid flannel tied around her waist, and twisted her long hair into a bun the way Gemma had spent an hour teaching him. He secured her hair with some of the bobby pins he kept in her bedside table drawer and spun her around to face him when he was all done. 

“Perfect,” He said with a smile. 

Gently, Bee placed her hands on either side of Louis’s face and said to him, “Daddy, get dressed or I’ll be late on my birthday.” Then, without further instruction, she skipped across the room to settle into her mini-recliner with a copy of a picture book about fire engines Liam had given to her the last time he was over. When she noticed that Louis was watching her, she gave him her best disapproving look followed by a wave meaning he should really go get ready.

“Okay, okay,” Louis ceded as he backed out of her room, leaving the door open behind him. “I’ll be ready in five minutes!”

* * *

Louis hated airports now. When he was younger, it had been a different story. He had loved the independence they offered when he was flying alone to his grandparents’ house every summer, the brightly lit signs with information about gate numbers and store names that seemed so much more magical in an airport than they ever did in a mall. Now, however, he recognized them only as a place crammed with too many people, too many stores, too many gates, a breeding ground for all kinds of contagious viruses, bacterial infections, and fungi, so when he was there to pick up Zayn, he made sure not to touch anything except of course Zayn himself when he pulled him into a long hug. 

Louis watched as Zayn filed out of the bridge with the rest of the passengers, pulling his black leather carry-on suitcase behind him while he managed to look like he had just stepped out of a magazine, even after a fifteen-hour flight. Once he broke away from the clogged group gathering near the terminal, Louis was sure Zayn had seen him and was on his way, so he was surprised to see Zayn turn back around and grab a red-faced girl by both wrists and speak to her the way he had seen Zayn speak to Elizabeth when she was crying. After several seconds, the girl began laughing through her tears and Zayn pulled her in close for a hug, rubbing her back with both hands for a few seconds before kissing her on top of the head. He pulled her away once more and asked her something with a jerk of his head toward Louis. The girl nodded and followed willingly when Zayn finally began walking toward Louis, pulling the girl along behind him.

“Hey, baby!” Zayn greeted him excitedly, mussing Louis’s hair the way he knew Louis hated. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too, I guess,” Louis grumbled, pushing his fringe out of his face. “Who’s your friend?” He asked, jerking a thumb in the direction of the girl who was now telling some elaborate story to a young man who looked vaguely like her. 

“Oh, that’s Carmen!” Zayn answered as he adjusted his grip on his bag.

“Carmen? There’s no further explanation?”

Zayn shrugged, tossing his free arm around Louis’s shoulders. “She came to the show in Barcelona and we just happened to be on the same flight here. She’s visiting her brother. He’s in medical school. Both big fans,” Zayn said dismissively as he pulled Louis toward the exit by his arm.

Louis only raised his eyebrows. No matter where they went, Zayn was always the center of attention, whether he wanted to be or not. Louis had never minded, not really. Liam, on the other hand, found himself becoming incredibly jealous every time a waitress at the Olive Garden “accidentally” dropped them a free dessert. 

As if he had heard his thoughts, Zayn looked around the car park animatedly, stopping in his tracks. “Where’s my ball and chain?”

“Liam’s picking up Elizabeth from school.”

Zayn frowned, again adjusting his grip on his suitcase handle. “He promised me he’d be with you,” he whined.

Louis rolled his eyes. “Your plane was early, so I wasn’t able to get her before leaving.”

“Wait, then wouldn’t it have made more sense for Liam to pick me up and you to pick up your daughter?”

“I was setting up for the party.”

“So you could have picked her up on the way.”

“Her school is west of the aquarium. The airport is east.”

“But _our_ house is north of—“

“Liam wasn’t at home. When I called, he was still at the fire station, which is southwest—“

“That’s still out of the way of the school and Liam hates driving in traffic to get to town.”

“It’s _not_ out of the way because the only thing Liam hates more than traffic is driving on city streets so he goes north on the highway until he hits the freeway then he takes the freeway east into town right—“

“Right past the school. Alright. You win.”

“Thank you!” Louis squeaked as he bounced onto his toes cutely. “Good to have you back.”

“Get your ass in the car.”

* * *

“Sorry I’m laaaaaate,” Gemma chimed as she kissed Louis on his cheek. 

“Mm-mm, you’re just in time for cake.”

Relieved that she hadn’t missed everything, Gemma let out a happy sigh and sat her gift down on the picnic table, and then she sat herself down next to Niall. She leaned back into Zayn’s lap, resting her head on his knee. Liam draped his strong arm over Zayn’s shoulders, his hand landing in Gemma’s hair. 

Niall bumped shoulders with Louis playfully. “You guuuuys, this is the first time we’ve all been together in—“

“Two months and 17 days,” Liam said before Niall could finish his sentence. Then, he smiled at Zayn and said, “I know,” before kissing his boyfriend’s temple. 

“Look at her,” Gemma said around her wide grin as she watched Elizabeth pull a girl with long blonde hair into their field of vision. Elizabeth pulled the girl right up to the glass and they plastered themselves right up next to a manatee that seemed to be enjoying their company. 

“Can you imagine what our lives would be like right now if we had kept the band together?” Liam giggled. 

Niall groaned, “Oh, God.”

“Hey! We don’t talk about The Rogue; too soon.”

“Gemma, it has literally been four years,” Louis said with a roll of his eyes. 

Gemma sat up out of Zayn’s lap and gave Louis a shove. “We were on the verge of our big break! But _no_ , Liam decided he wanted to be a sexy shirtless fireman and Niall’s parents wouldn’t let him go on tour, and Louis had to go and have a _baby_. Now look at us! We work at a seafood place that is—spoilers!—nowhere near the ocean, Liam cries about missing Zayn, Zayn is the only one left to carry on the band legacy, we all have a kid to raise, and I am living in my baby brother’s house where I haven’t had hot shower in over a week.”

“Oh-kay,” Niall enunciated slowly, “I think Gem needs a slice of pizza. . . or three.”

“You do that,” Louis muttered. “I’m going to hang out with my band-ruining daughter on the anniversary of her band-ruining birth.”

“Daddy, Look!” Elizabeth called to him, practically jumping to point up at a tiger shark swimming past them to the ceiling.

In one swift motion, Louis scooped her up into his arms so he could kiss her cheek. “Are you girls having fun?”

“Yes! Look at all the fishes!”

“What about you, Tawny? Are you having fun?”

Tawny nodded her shiny blonde head vigorously before turning her attention back to the animals swimming around the tank. Gently, Louis sat Bee back on the floor. 

“Don’t you guys want to go play with the other kids? I think they’re going to make origami whales next!”

“Not really,” Elizabeth sighed. “It’s too loud over there. Can we just look at the manatees, Dad?”

Louis glanced over his shoulder at the other children who were paying attention to the uniformed aquarium employee giving them instructions on how to finish their crafts. None of the kids seemed devastated by the absence of the two girls so Louis crouched down and wrapped his arms around the tiny human he could hardly believe was old enough to walk, let alone maturely request a break from the hustle and bustle of her fourth birthday party.

“We will definitely look at the manatees. Hop up,” he said, reaching his arms out for her. She did as he instructed and giggled as he sat her on the railing. “Tawny, would you like to—“

Before Louis could finish his offer, Tawny was nodding again, not a word leaving her lips. He boosted her up to sit next to Elizabeth and he leaned on the railing between them, keeping a gentle hand on each of them. 

“Oh, look at that one, Bee!” Louis exclaimed, pointing out a brightly colored fish darting past them. “What is that one called? A rainbow fish?”

Elizabeth giggled. “No, Dad.”

“What? That’s not what it’s called?”

Elizabeth burst into full-on laughter, Tawny joining in this time. “Daaaad,” Elizabeth squealed. “The rainbow fish is from that book you read me!”

“Yeah! The book about the ocean,” Louis said, almost defensively.

“No, Daddy, that’s an _angel_ fish.”

“If you were a fish, you’d be an angel fish,” Louis cooed, partly to be funny and partly to cover his embarrassment at being outsmarted by a toddler.

* * *

“Where is Gemma?” Louis said through his teeth. 

Without taking his eyes off of Elizabeth, Zayn shrugged. “She went to take a phone call a few minutes ago.”

“Elizabeth is almost done opening her presents—Bee, honey, give that to Uncle Liam; he’ll fold it for you. Tell Chris thank you—where the hell is Gemma?”

“Speak of the devil,” Niall said under his breath. 

Louis heard Gemma’s skirt swishing and her quickened steps before he ever saw her. 

“Gemma, you’re missing the whole party. She only has, like, two gifts left—“

“Louis, can you follow me outside, please?”

“Are you not listening to me? I said she’s—“

“Outside. It’s Eleanor.”

“Shit,” Niall whispered to himself as he made a move to clear his lap of the presents he had been collecting for Bee. 

By the time Zayn had thought to move in to distract the birthday girl, Louis was out of sight, headed toward the door Gemma had just entered through. 

“We’re gonna go get the cake, okay, baby? We’ll be right back,” Liam said behind them, and then he was running to catch up. 

“How does she know where we are?” Louis growled.

“I’m so sorry, Louis. I wasn’t thinking. I took a picture of you guys looking at the tank and I put it on Instagram, then she just called me and said she was outside. I tried to get her to leave but she won’t go.”

“Gemma, I know it’s not really your fault, but—“

“Does that really matter right now?” Liam interjected.

“Damn, everybody was right: y’all _are_ like one big married couple.” A new voice spoke.

“Oh, fuck my life,” Louis muttered, putting his hand to his forehead. 

“Ouch.” Eleanor said as she dropped her gaze to her feet. “Maybe I deserve that.”

Louis couldn’t stop himself from letting out a frustrated laugh. “No, El, I think that according to the law, you _deserve_ to be in jail—Gemma, Liam would you mind getting the cake from the lady at the front desk? My kid is going to start wondering where it is.”

Immediately, Gemma pushed past Liam, disregarding Eleanor entirely, swatting at tears beginning to fall. Liam hesitated a moment before following Gemma down the hallway, his gentle hand already hovering over her shoulder. 

“I suppose I wasn’t really expecting a warm welcome.”

“Well, I’m glad you weren’t disappointed, then.”

“You look good, Lou.”

“You look like a twig.”

“I spent the summer with the Peace Corps in Mexico. I’m still getting over the dys—actually, you don’t want to know.”

“Thank you for sparing me.”

Eleanor gave a weak smile as she slid off her backpack and dropped it to the floor. “Listen, I know I went about this all the wrong way, and I’m sorry. I just wanted to give Elizabeth this present I got for her. This woman in the village made the dr—you know what? I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

“How nice of you to take some time out of your busy schedule to drop off a gift for the child you had the inconvenience of giving birth to. I’ll tell her you said hi,” Louis said impatiently as he reached for the package in Eleanor’s hands. Eleanor pulled the gift out of Louis’s reach. 

“Can you just look at me for a second? It’s me. Eleanor. You know me, dammit.” She said, her voice raised. “I know that I haven’t been—that I’m _not_ the most mature, or the most stable, or the most anything, but I am here right now, and I am trying, okay?”

Louis leaned back against the wall and rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. This was the exact opposite of what he wanted today to turn out to be. 

“I’m listening,” Louis mumbled reluctantly, still covering his eyes. The light in the hallway suddenly seemed too bright.

Eleanor took a deep breath before continuing. “I know that I have not given you any reason to trust me—“

“Understatement of the century.”

“God! Would it kill you just to listen? Just once in your life?”

“It just might, actually; I’ve had a dormant ulcer for about three and a half years now, and I feel it becoming more and more active every time you exhale, and then when words come with the exhalation, I can just feel the rest of my body kissing coffee goodbye until Judgment—“

“My parents want to take custody of Elizabeth.”

* * *

“Custody?” Gemma almost shouted. She was sitting cross-legged in Louis’s living room chair, three neatly-folded stacks of clothing on the ottoman in front of her and one large, disorganized pile in her lap. “Well, what did you tell her?”

“What did I tell her?” Louis repeated back, almost offended that she would even ask. “I said—and I quote—‘fuck no’,” he said, punctuating the curse by shaking a clean pair of boxers so they made an audible snapping sound before he folded them and sat them on the coffee table with the several others he had already done. 

“Then what happened?” Liam asked from the loveseat where he was resting with his feet in Zayn’s lap and in his own lap sat by far the largest pile of laundry of them all. Every so often he would have to hold something up for Zayn to tell him which one of them it belonged to. 

Louis shoved the jumble of undershirts and boxers and tights and jumpers off his lap and scooted back to lean against the arm of the chair Gemma was sitting in. “Eleanor said Elizabeth would be able to see her more if she was living with her grandparents.”

Liam shifted in his seat. “You’re not actually thinking about it, are you?”

“Of course not. For God’s sake, they hate me. As soon as the ink dried on the papers, they’d never let me see her again.”

“So. . . what? El’s gone now, like for good?” Zayn asked calmly, even as he reached for Liam’s leg under their pile of mismatched socks.

“Not quite. She said her dad told her that if I said no to giving up my daughter, he’s afraid that it makes Elizabeth a liability to them and Eleanor.”

“Liability? She’s a baby!” Liam spat.

Louis nodded and smiled ruefully. “I know, but they. . .” Louis had to take a deep breath to keep the lump out of his throat. “They want her—she wants to sign away her parental rights. That way I can’t make her pay child support, and I can’t make her visit her own damn kid, as if I have ever been able to convince her to do either of those things before!” Then Louis couldn’t help but let a strange sort of laugh out of his throat followed by something like a sob.

Within a second, Zayn was at Louis’s side, his arm wrapped around his friend’s middle, a trail of clean clothes left in his wake. Louis hid his face in Zayn’s chest as his own was racked with another round of painful-sounding sobs. 

“I know it sucks,” Zayn whispered as he gently smoothed circles in the back of Louis’s shirt. “But she’s the one missing out, and there is nothing you can do to make her _want_ to be a mother to that little girl if she’s not built for it.”

“Bee has three of the best godparents in the world to make up for it,” Gemma chimed in with a wink. “Plus Niall,” she joked, jerking her head toward Niall who was lying sideways in the recliner, his head dangling over the armrest as he remained in a deep sleep. 

Louis wiped roughly at his eyes as he laughed at the sight of Niall, a welcome change in mood. Once he had calmed down enough to have another laugh, this time at the state of himself, he stood and stretched with a loud groan, Zayn still by his side with one arm wrapped around Louis and the other reaching for Liam. It was barely after midnight, but it felt like they had been up for days. 

“I think the rest of the laundry can wait until tomorrow,” Zayn said into Liam’s hair as he kissed him on the temple. “Bedtime?”

“Definitely in,” Louis agreed.

“Me too,” Gemma said as she abandoned her clothes heap to jump on Liam’s back. “Li, I like to think that if you weren’t already married to Zayn that we’d have a shot.”

“She’s sleeping next to you,” Zayn said to Louis. In response, Gemma shot Zayn a mischievous grin as she leaned in to plant a big kiss on Liam’s cheek. Liam then dumped her onto the bed where she was immediately hit in the face by a pillow from Zayn. 

“Oops. Slipped.”

Gemma stuck her tongue out at him before rolling over onto her front so she could crawl up to stake her claim on the center spot of the king-sized bed. Liam and Zayn both shed their jackets and jeans before turning the TV onto the Late Late Show and climbing into bed next to her, Zayn first then Liam on the outside so he could kick the covers off of him in the middle of the night just like he always did. Within minutes, Louis emerged from the bathroom with freshly brushed teeth and a pair of Christmassy pajama pants on and crawled under the covers on the other side of Gemma. 

“Who’s on tonight?” He asked halfway into his pillow.

“Andrew and the North American Grizzly.” Zayn said back quickly.

“Wait, didn’t he go to high school with us?”

“Yeah they used to be called Sidecar—“

“Daddy?”

In the same instant, all four adults quieted and sat up to see Elizabeth standing in the doorway, her raggedy stuffed elephant in tow. 

“What’s wrong, baby?” Louis asked, hurrying to get over Gemma as soon as he noticed the red rim around her eyes and the tears staining her cheeks.

“My nightlight isn’t working,” she sniffled. “I woke up and I couldn't see."

Louis felt his heart swell even though he knew she was genuinely upset, and he couldn't resist scooping her up into his arms. “Well, lucky for you, little one, we are sleeping with the TV on so we won’t be scared of the dark.”


	3. People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.  
> - _Funny Girl ___

**(2:27) 911! Trapped in stepdad’s office. He’s been arguing with judge over the phone for 45 minutes. No end in sight. Send rescue team.** Louis typed in his lap without looking down at his phone screen, not that Dan would have noticed anyway. 

**Gem (2:29): Record him, please. Angry Dan is my hero.**

**Li (2:30): Yes please. TV at the fire station is stuck on CSPAN until cable guy comes sometime tomorrow. Never thought I’d wish for a fire but. . .**

**(2:33): For real. My appointment was supposed to be over at 2! Activate emergency plan #4.**

**Li (2:34): Is that the one where we all have to dye our hair blonde and move to Sweden?**

**Gem (2:36): No, #4 is where we have to sacrifice a fatted calf.**

**(2:39): Both of you can kiss my ass.**

**Gem (2:39): Is that a threat or a promise?**

**Li (2:39): Is that a threat or a promise?**

**(2:45): He just got off the phone. It’s going to be a long afternoon. . .**

**Gem (2:48): I skipped my lunch break today. I can pick her up.**

**(2:49): I wasn’t going to ask you to do anything.**

**Li (2:50): We know.**

**Gem (2:50): We know.**

**(2:53): Helpful Gemma is my hero.**

**Gem (2:54): I’d tell you to kiss my ass but it seems I’m joining that program already in progress.**

* * *

_Hi! It's Louis! If you’ve reached this recording, I'm asleep, working, driving, cleaning the house, helping my kid with homework, or staring at the wall in a catatonic state, so leave a message and I’ll try and get back to you as soon as I have a spare second. . . Uh. . . Actually, it’s probably best if you leave me a text, too. Just in case._

“Hi, Honey. It’s Anne. I just wanted to let you know that Gemma has picked up Elizabeth and everything is fine. I know you’re going through a bit of a tight spot right now, so I just wanted to let you know that Bee seems to be interested in the afterschool art program we have started this year. My son is running things and I’m sure he would love to have another student. Let me know, okay? I hope you’re doing well. Love you!”

* * *

“I’m home!” Louis called as he hung his apron on the coat rack just inside the front door. The air conditioner was set much lower than Louis would have ever allowed it to be and there was a faint smell of burnt food in the air. “Gem?”

“Kitchen!” Gemma answered followed by a beat of silence, then, “Don’t be mad, okay?”

With a sigh, Louis asked “What did you do?” as he rounded the corner and pushed through the swinging kitchen half-door to find Gemma with her head inside the oven, her hair in some disheveled variation of a bun. She huffed and gave up on whatever she was doing, leaning back on her hands to reveal a streak of oven soot smudged across her forehead. 

“I tried to make a casserole and then I burned it.”

Louis knelt down next to her to have a look for himself. Lo and behold, he was met with the sight of a blackened oven, and even a bit of what he recognized as cheese that hadn’t had time to burn to complete crisp. 

“I’m sorry,” Gemma said as soon as she saw the shocked look on Louis’s face. “I was just trying to make something you guys could eat for a while since you’re so busy and now I just made a bigger mess for you to clean up.”

Louis just reached for her shoulder and pulled her in for a kiss on the forehead, right in the middle of the soot smudge. “Honey, I think you forget how terrible of a cook I used to be before I discovered the wonder of YouTube.” Then, without getting up, he leaned back to the cabinet under the sink and pulled a bottle with an orange lid out from the back with the endless supply of neglected cans of Comet and boxes of steel wool. 

“Here we go,” Louis said as he popped the lid off the can and began shaking. He sprayed the stuff all around the inside of the oven and shut the door. He stood up then and pushed some buttons on the control panel. 

“There. A few hours on self-clean mode and it will be as good as new.” Louis put on his best warm smile and reached down a hand to help Gemma up from the floor, which she accepted and pulled herself up. 

“How was work?”

“It was work.”

“And your meeting with Dan?”

Louis exhaled loudly as he untucked his shirt. “It was long. Lots of yelling— not yelling _at_ me, just around me and about me.” 

“What did he say?”

“Well, Dan said a lot of curse words, mostly, but the judge said that she isn’t interested in breaking up families over the phone and that he refuses to sever parental rights without a court date and all that county judge justice warrior bullshit, so now, of course, we have to deal with that. God, it’s like it never ends, you know?”

Louis dropped his head into his hands and rubbed at his eyes. Gemma slid her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. 

“Everything has an endpoint, Lou. Nothing lasts forever, not even the bad stuff.”

“It’s just like. . . first, I had to come to terms with the fact that my daughter is going to officially, legally not have a mother. That was the hardest thing. Then, once we were okay with that, we had to move all of our schedules around just so I could go and sign all these legal papers. _Then_ , once I thought that was done, I learned that I have to go to court. It’s—“

“It’s just another thing, babe. Just another thing.”

Louis took a deep breath. “Just another thing,” he repeated. “Stay the night?”

“Going home. Sorry.” She began trekking toward the door. “Harry has spent all day trying to put together an Ikea bed for me, so it’s about time for me to show up and finish the job—speaking of Harry, did you talk to Mom?”

Louis huffed. “No, but she left a message. Gem, I can barely afford Elizabeth’s tuition as it is. As much as the after school thing would save my life, it’s totally impractical right now, and I know you’re going to say I won’t have to pay, but I don’t want you or your mom to do anything else for me. Please.”

Gemma pulled her sweater down from the coat rack and slid her arms into it. 

“Well, Harry offered, so _technically_ it was him. Not me or Mom. See?”

“G. . .”

Before he could find the end of his thought, Gemma kissed him on the cheek.

“He is great with kids, Lou. Plus, he overcharges the other parents so you really shouldn’t feel bad about this at all. It all evens out.”

Louis smiled ruefully and pressed their foreheads together. “She can go tomorrow and we will see how it goes.”

“That’s all I’m asking for, Pumpkin.”

“You know we’re not actually a couple, right?” Louis asked, giving her a rather intense side-eye.

“’Course I do, Honey Bun. Now do me a favor and get a haircut tomorrow if you have a free minute. Just a little around the sides; you look—“

“Alright, first you think you’re my girlfriend, now you think you’re my mother. You, Gemma Styles, are into some weird, Oedipal shit and I want no part of it.”

* * *

“You can go inside, you know.”

Louis nearly jumped out of his skin, narrowly avoiding banging his head straight into the glass window he had just been staring through.

“Anne!” Louis hissed. “A little warning next time would be nice.”

Anne covered her mouth to avoid laughing out loud, shifting the large stack of papers in her hands so she could do so. 

“I’m sorry, honey. The opportunity was there and I took it,” she said. “I like your haircut by the way,” she added, as an afterthought. “It looks nice.”

Louis tugged on the hair around his ears self-consciously. “Thanks,” he said softly. 

Before she could say another word, Anne was leaning in for a one-armed hug, squeezing Louis tightly around the shoulders. “Seriously, Harry won’t mind.” Then, without asking Louis’s permission, she knocked on the reinforced glass of the door and skipped away. 

“Anne!” He called after her, panicked. 

She spun around in her high heels and continued walking backwards. “I’m old, Louis! You’re supposed to let me have my fun while I still can!”

“You’re not old! You’re only—“

“Woah, choose your number wisely.”

Louis spun around, this time without an ounce of panic in his body. This might as well happen today.

“She’s my mother and I don’t even know her age. It’s a modern mystery.”

Green eyes. Green eyes. Green eyes. There was more to him, yes, but, damn, green eyes. 

“H-Harry,” was all Louis was able to say. 

A smile spread across Harry’s face, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Louis.”

Louis looked him from head to toe, not bothering to care whether or not Harry saw him doing so. Harry did notice, though, and he scratched the back of his neck while he tried to pretend he wasn’t basking in it. 

“You look. . . I mean, you’re so tall now. . . and your hair is so long. . . I. . . Where have you been, I mean?”

“Yeah, people tend to grow a foot when you miss the five years they spent in puberty,” Harry chuckled, choosing to answer address one thing at a time. “The hair. . . I have nothing to say about that actually. I just like it like this. And I’ve been around.”

“Well, you look great.”

“Thanks,” Harry grinned. “You look great. You’ve always looked great.

And that was more than Louis could stand as he felt the blush creeping into his cheeks.

Harry definitely noticed.

“Listen, we’re close to clean-up time in here. You’re welcome to come in if you want to.”

Louis exhaled and peeked through the classroom window again for a brief second. “Yes, please,” he finally conceded. “But can you come up with a reason for me to be here? I don’t want her to think I am checking up on her.”

“She’s four.”

“I’m trying to raise an independent child.”

". . . She's four."

Harry just rolled his eyes as he pushed the wooden door back open. It took Louis a moment to realize that Harry was holding it open for him. A few moments, actually, but he got it. Eventually. 

It had been a long five years. 

* * *

**2010**

“I looked for you all night,” Louis said.

“You’re drunk,” Harry said back without taking his eyes of the movie they were supposed to be watching. 

“So?”

“You’re missing the whole movie.”

“I’ve seen it already,” Louis slurred dismissively. “I saved you a dance.”

“Well, that was a stupid thing to do; you know I’m a sophomore.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “You know what I’m saying. Please don’t be mean to me while I’m drunk.”

“Thirty seconds ago you basically said that you being drunk didn’t mean anything. You can’t use it in your favor now.”

“Jesus. If I kiss you, will you shut up?”

“You really are drunk. Does a girl named Eleanor not come to mind when you say stuff like that?”

Louis pushed himself up on his elbows, swaying just a tiny bit as he did so, but Harry didn’t notice. He was too busy trying to keep his breathing steady and his eyes on the television. 

“Eleanor isn’t. . . we’re not together anymore.”

Harry allowed himself to glance at Louis. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he whispered.

“It’s okay. There’s nothing you could have done,” Louis said. “She’s booked a flight to Paris. It takes off three hours after graduation, and she has made it clear that she doesn’t want me or anyone else to try and stop her.”

“Why would she do something like that?”

“Because she figured out that I was looking for you instead of dancing with her.”

* * *

**Present**

**Sister (5:02): Hey! How was Elizabeth? What was it like seeing Louis??**

**(5:06): She was really good. I think it’s going to work out.**

**(5:07): What are you doing tonight?**

**Sister (5:09): Don’t change the subject. What was it like seeing Louis???**

**(5:11): Didn’t you say you were taking Zayn to the airport? Just wondering so I know what to do about dinner.**

**Sister (5:12): Haaaaaaarrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy :(** **  
**

**(5:15): I’m thinking of just getting some sushi, honestly. I’ll leave some in the fridge for you if you want.**

**Sister (5:16): I can’t believe how rude you are.**

**Sister (5:16): I want a spicy tuna roll, though.**

**Sister (5:17): And a small miso soup.**

**(5:36): He's still amazing.**


	4. September

**2010**

Louis could still feel the bass pounding in his chest, even all the way out in the parking lot. 

“Eleanor!” He called, his voice still sounding distorted in his own ears. “El!”

“Go away, Louis.”

“Eleanor, please. Please just stop.”

Eleanor froze where she stood and turned to face him, her black dress swishing around the pavement at her feet. Then, quickly, she bent over and undid the straps on her high heels, coming up with one in each hand. 

“Stay there,” she said, her voice raw and broken. “If you come any closer, I swear to God, I’m going to run.”

“Okay,” Louis ceded with his hands up in surrender. “Okay.”

The hotel was right off the highway, and in the thick air between them, the only sounds were those of cars rushing off to wherever they were going; going to work, going home to their families. Everyone was running to something, or they were just running away, but Eleanor and Louis just stood there, not moving anywhere for the first time since they had known one another.

“Who were you looking for?” She asked as she kept her gaze trained on the ground, her bare toes barely visible under the hem of her dress. 

“Eleanor. Let’s go home.”

“Do you love him?”

“We’re not going to do this here, El. Not tonight.”

“You do _not_ have power anymore!” Eleanor shouted, a fierce red flush creeping up her chest to her bare shoulders, all the way up to her neck. “I deserve to know.”

“Yes! Yes, I love him.”

* * *

**Present**

Liam sighed loudly and flopped down face-first onto the bed. 

“I don’t even want to go anymore. We’re going to be up all night.”

Louis pushed Liam’s shoulder to roll him over.

“Don’t be a drama queen. We’re almost done,” Louis chided. “Here,” he said, dropping a sheet of paper onto Liam’s chest. I wrote down how many of each item of clothing you packed so you can make sure you don’t leave anything at any of the hotels.”

“Except I don’t see why you would ever need five swimsuits, Liam, I just don’t,” Gemma said, as she pulled four of them out of his suitcase. 

“Put those back! It feels gross when you want to go swimming but your trunks are still wet from the day before.”

“Okay, so take two,” she said, tossing one back in.

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Fine, whatever. I swear, sometimes I feel like you make things way more stressful than they need to be.”

“You know what? Overpack. See if I care. You’re the one paying for an overweight, extra-ass bag, not me.”

And with that, Gemma threw all five pairs of swim trunks back into the suitcase and stomped out of the bedroom. “I’m getting a drink,” she announced before slamming the door behind her.

Liam stared after her, but Louis just reached around him and began re-folding the swim trunks into neat little squares, placing them gently back into the suitcase. 

“What crawled up her ass?” Liam asked, grabbing the last pair and folding them himself. 

“She’s in a bad mood because I won’t let her hook me up with Harry.”

“Oh, God, again?”

Louis looked down and busied himself zipping up Liam’s luggage. “Well, she doesn’t know it’s _again_.”

Liam’s ears perked up. “What do you mean “she doesn’t know”?”

“I mean that Gemma knows Harry had a crush on me and that I flirted with him, but she doesn’t know that. . . you know. . . “

“You never told Gemma that you and her _brother_ —“

“I’m sorry, Liam! A lot was going on at the time. And let me remind you that you didn’t tell anyone that you and Zayn had hooked up on the soccer field until, like, a year after it happened. You were like, “by the way, Zayn and I kind of fucked after the championship game and, uh, we liked it, so we’ve been doing that for a while and you’re all invited to our housewarming party next week because we’re also moving in together so we can continue fucking in the future.”

Liam reached out and gripped Louis’s wrist, placing his other hand on his heart in mock sincerity. “We’re talking about you here, Lou.”

Louis jerked his hand away, but the smirk on his face was impossible to hide. “I’ll tell her eventually.”

“Tell me what?”

“Shit!” Louis shouted as he nearly jumped out of his skin. “You can’t just sneak up on people like that.”

“If you’re talking about telling me about you and Harry, I already know.”

Louis’s jaw nearly came unhinged from his head after she said it, but Gemma just shrugged at him and passed him one of the Styrofoam cups she was holding. Louis’s was from 7/11. 

“My brother can’t keep secrets from me. He gets all guilty, like a dog when they bring you the shoe they chewed up.”

“You’re calling me a shoe?” Louis asked with raised eyebrows, taking a sip of his (very stiff) Slurpee Cup Margarita. 

“A very high-quality shoe who drunkenly made out with my little brother after senior prom, yes.”

Liam lifted his Taco Bueno cup to his mouth and took a long drink from the straw, his eyes darting between Louis and Gemma in anticipation. Gemma definitely noticed. 

“What?” She finally asked angrily. “Do I have something on my face?”

Liam just leaned forward on the bed and reached for her hand. When she jerked her arm away, Liam reached out again, catching her fingers in his. 

“Gemma, honey,” Liam said soothingly. “You might want to sit down. . . On second thought, here, you can have my margarita, too.”

* * *

**Sister, Sister (10:59): Delete my number. Cut my head out of all the family pictures. Erase my name off of that family tree project you made in 5 th grade. I know Mom kept that shit so don’t fuck with me. You’re dead to me. You don’t exist. **

**(11:04): What the hell are you talking about???**

**Sister, Sister (11:05): And another thing: remember that ugly-ass mutt dog you had when we were little? Dad backed over him accidentally when he was running late to work, so he had him put to sleep and told you he ran away.**

**Sister, Sister (11:05): Okay NOW you don’t exist.**

**(11:06): OK, no matter what you think I did, that last thing was uncalled-for, G!**

**Sister, Sister (11:09): 12142648578 Error: Invalid Numer. Please resend text message using a valid 10-digit number: OK, no matter what you think I did, that last thing was uncalled-for, G!**

**(11:11): You misspelled “number” in there, dumbass.**

* * *

“Okay, finally, our new Film Noir line goes live at midnight. Gemma: key points of this collection. Go.”

Gemma lifted her head out of her hands and gave Rachel a blank stare for a solid five seconds before she was able to say, “Uh, sexy all-black theme; the entire collection can be mixed and matched; available in premade or made-to-measure.”

Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise as she glanced down at her notes. 

“Yeah,” she chuckled, “that’s about it. Well done, Gemma.”

Gemma just dropped her head back to her hands and shot Rachel a thumbs up as another wave of nausea passed over her. Gemma was usually one to call in sick when she was in such rare form for a 9 a.m. meeting, but she had just been promoted to customer service supervisor, and Rachel was already ignoring the fact that Gemma showed up in sweatpants at least four out of five days of the work week. 

* * *

Louis pulled his car into the driveway of his mother’s house, right behind an open trailer packed with cardboard boxes and some random odds and ends. He stepped out onto the pavement and shut his door gently behind him. 

“Mom?” He called out, his focus still on the U-Haul full of junk. “Mama?”

Johannah jogged up from behind the trailer, her long brunette ponytail swinging behind her. She was in one of Dan’s Morrissey t-shirts and a pair of yoga pants, and her face was slightly flushed. She looked like Louis remembered her looking all those years ago when it had been just the two of them. 

“Hello, my baby!” She exclaimed, closing the space between them and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Louis couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear over her shoulder as he squeezed her tight.

“Hi, Mom,” he said once they separated. “Are you guys moving?”

“Oh, no, honey.” Johannah slipped one arm back around her son’s shoulders so they could begin walking toward the garage. “Dan is moving his home office from the guest bedroom to the garage. I figured we'd need to get rid of some stuff.”

Louis frowned at her. “I wish you would have called me earlier. I would have come over to help.”

Johannah chuckled and squeezed him closer for a split second. “Oh, we managed just fine, I promise. You deserved the day off.” She kissed his cheek. “Come on, now. My Bumble Bee is taking a nap. Did Liam make his plane alright?”

“Oh, yeah,” Louis said as he reached for the handle of the sliding glass door. “He should be landing in Sydney around ten tonight.”

“Let me know when he gets there, okay? I worry about them all the time, traveling like they do.”

Louis grinned at her. “You’re such a mom.”

“Well, you will be, too, when you have about 15 more Elizabeths.”

Louis, now inside, directed himself immediately toward the far side of the living room where his twin brother and sister were in their matching baby swings. Ernest slept with his head turned to the side, his little double chin resting on his shoulder, and Doris flapped her arms around excitedly, for what reason, Louis didn’t know. Louis unbuckled her from her seat and scooped her up in his arms. 

“Can you believe your mommy is talking about you like that?” He asked her animatedly. “You’re no trouble at all.”

“Oh, how quickly we forget what it’s like to have babies.”

Louis ignored her, and instead, he lowered Doris to the rug and rested her on her back. She responded by kicking her legs at him. 

“So,” Johannah began as she stretched out on the couch with a glass of tea, “what’s this I hear about Gemma being upset with you?”

“Lesson number one, little one, Mommy will find out _everything_.”

“Come on, I haven’t got all night.”

Louis exhaled loudly. “She’s very upset with Liam and me because she found out we kind of kept a secret from her.”

“And she’s upset with Harry, too?”

“Yeah, very, very upset with him. She didn’t go with us to the airport this morning. Most of that was probably because she drank an entire margarita out of Super Big Gulp cup. . .and then took six shots of tequila—Hold the phone, how did you know she was upset with Harry?”

“Like you said, I know everything.”

Louis rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Doris who was now entertaining herself by blowing bubbles. 

“Anne and I play bridge together. News travels. Come on. Chop chop.”

“Mom, I honestly wasn’t even trying to keep secrets, it just wasn’t a good time when it happened and then after that. . . there were so many other things going on, it just slipped my mind, and then by the time things slowed down, it was over with him and me, and I didn’t see a reason to bring it back up.”

Johannah looked into his eyes as she sat up from the couch, and she felt something that—though she’d never admit it—she figured you could only feel for your firstborn. There was something about remembering what it felt like to hold him after he was born, not knowing a single thing about what comes next, but knowing exactly how to love him from his first breath. There was something about knowing that she had done well enough by him to have him here now. 

The doorbell rang and Johannah glanced toward the front of the house briefly before she leaned down to kiss Louis’s temple. 

“I hate to tell you, baby, but that’s exactly what keeping a secret is.”

Then, she stood to answer the door. Louis watched her set her glass of tea on the marble countertop before she disappeared behind a wall into the foyer. He rolled over onto his back, lifting his smallest sister to rest on his chest. She looked down at him, bobbing her head toward him with her eyes wide, like she had never seen a human from this angle before. 

“You’ve got a good mommy, Doris. Remember that when you’re 15, okay?”

"Thanks for that," Johannah said, running her hair gently through her son's hair as she slid past him to sit on the couch. "So, I have a quick question," she said. 

Louis took no pause from making faces at his Doris as he answered back simply, "Yeah?" 

"Would it be super awkward if you saw Harry right now?" She asked, glancing down at her cell phone. 

"I mean, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but I'd avoid it if I could. 

Johannah automatically pasted on an apologetic grimace. "You'd better get going, then. He's on his way over with carrot cake." 

Louis sat straight up. "Carrot cake?"

"It's my turn to bake for bridge night and you know how terrible I am at baking. I was kind of scared Anne would call me out for outsourcing, but then he told me he does the baking for Anne's night, too, so I figured that's enough insurance to keep both of our lips sealed."

"Thanks for the heads up," Louis said, standing to put Doris back in her swing. He gave his mother a kiss on the cheek then made a move for the stairs. 

"Louis," Johannah called after him calmly. "For what it's worth, I think you would enjoy getting to know Harry again. He's such a nice boy." 

Louis shook his head with a smile still on his face. "Thank you for your concern, but if it's okay, I'd like to deal with one drama at a time." 

Johanna's face softened into a warm smile and she said, "of course." 

Then, Louis disappeared up the stairs to wake Elizabeth from her nap.

* * *

“Who would choose _anyone_ over Brad Pitt? Boooo.” Gemma threw a piece of popcorn at the TV for effect. “I mean, she’s gotta be blind, right?”

There was no answer. 

“Right?” Gemma asked again, turning her head to face Rachel in the dark.

“Hmm?” Rachel hummed.

Gemma rolled her eyes even though she knew the gesture made no difference in the dark, and she tossed another piece of popcorn at Rachel’s nose. 

“You’re missing the whole movie,” she whined. 

“I’ve seen it already.”

“Fine, party pooper. Go to sleep, then.”

“I’m not going to sleep,” Rachel said casually as she adjusted the pillows behind her back. 

“Don’t be stupid, Rach, go to sleep if you’re tired.”

Rachel leaned back into the pillows and fanned her long honey-brown hair out like a halo around her head. “Fine, but this time wake me up before you sneak out.” 


	5. Silver Springs

Tuesday, September 23

**(214)-264-8658 (3:45): Stomach bug going around school. Be on the lookout!**

**(3:55): Thanks. Will do.**

Friday, September 26

**(214)-264-8658 (9:00): Field trip to Children’s Museum next Wednesday, the 1st. Leaving at 2:30, returning at 5.**

**(11:01): Bee wants to go. Can I buy a ticket for myself?**

**(214)-264-8568 (11:13): I’ll get you one with the group. No worries :)**

Monday, September 29

**Harry Styles (3:16): Are you in class?**

**(3:18): Only physically. What’s up?**

**Harry Styles (3:24): We’re having a little bit of a meltdown here. I didn’t want to bother you, but she’s not doing well today.**

**(3:25): 10 minutes. I’ll be there.**

**Harry Styles (9:15): Hey, how’d it go?**

**(9:21): She’s gonna be fine, I think. Super Parent to the rescue. Ha.**

**Harry Styles (9:23): What’s going on?**

**Harry Styles (9:23): Oh God. Never mind. You don’t have to answer that. I’m not trying to pry.**

**(9:25): It’s cool.**

**(9:26): I figured Gemma would have informed you??**

**Harry Styles (9:30): She’s a very strange woman, as I’m sure you know.**

**(9:32): Touché.**

**(9:33): Bee’s been a little upset lately. I think she overheard me talking on the phone to Dan or Liam about going to court with her mom,**  
**Harry Styles (9:33): She’s trying to get custody?**

**(9:34): Exact opposite. Severing parental rights.**

**Harry Styles (9:35): I have literally never heard of that in my life.**

**(9:40): They teach it in Deadbeat Parenting 101.**

**Harry Styles (9:45): That sucks. I’m so sorry.**

**(9:46): Yeah, it sucks a little. Nothing lasts forever, not even the bad stuff :)**

**Harry Styles (9:48): That’s a very Gemma thing to say, Louis.**

**(9:49): I know. I miss her :(**

**Harry Styles (9:53): Me too.**

**Harry Styles (9:54): Don’t ever tell her I told you that, though. If you do, I’ll lie.**

**(9:55): Have you seen her?**

**Harry Styles (9:56): She came by yesterday during her lunch break. I was on my way out as she was coming in. I guess she was getting clothes or something. You?**

**(9:59): I see her everywhere :(**

**Harry Styles (10:00): You’re a mess.**

**Harry Styles (10:01): If I hear anything, you’ll be my first call.**

**Harry Styles (10:01): First text. Let’s be real.**

**(10:03): I’ll be picking up Bee tomorrow, so I guess I’ll see you then. For now, I have homework to do.**

**(10:03): Stop distracting me, geez.**

**Harry Styles (10:04): Dammit! I was just about to blame you for my procrastination, too :(. Way to beat me to the punch.**

**Harry Styles (10:05): Really, though. Nice talking to you. Have a good night.**

Wednesday, October 1st

**Harry Styles (9:13): Guess who I just saw in the grocery store?  
**

**(9:16): Jesus Christ?  
**

**(9:16): Victoria Beckham?  
**

**(9:16): DAVID BECKHAM?  
**

**(9:16): If it was David Beckham, I would be incredibly upset, jealous, and maybe a little homicidal.  
**

**(9:18): Your silence is deafening  
**

**Harry Styles (9:20): I was just going to see how long you would keep going, but I see you got a little hung up on David Beckham. Understandable.  
**

**Harry Styles (9:20): It was Gemma and Rachel.  
**

**(9:21): Clothed?  
**

**Harry Styles (9:22): . . . Yes? Why would they not be clothed in Walmart??  
**

**(9:22): Oh, you poor soul. You don’t go to Walmart often, do you?  
**

**Harry Styles (9:23): Okay, ANYWAY, like I was saying. . .  
**

**(9:24): Rachel is a good sign. Rachel is levelheaded. She won’t let Gemma shut us out forever.  
**

**(9:25): I should become better friends with Rachel.  
**

**(9:25): I love Rachel.  
**

**Harry Styles (9:30): If you love Rachel so much, why don’t you MARRY HER, HUH?  
**

**(9:31): I’m considering it!  
**

**(9:31): Jealous?  
**

**Harry Styles (9:32): Maybe.  
**

**(9:34): Ha! Who’s the mess now?  
**

Thursday, October 2nd

**(1:16): Dinner in Silver Springs tomorrow, 7**

  
**Harry Styles (1:20): Fun. . .?**

**(1:22): That was supposed to be an invitation but I left some stuff out.  
**

**(1:22): Like the part where I actually ask if that is something you’d like to go to.  
**

**(1:22): And the question mark.  
**

**Harry Styles (1:30): Pick me up at 5:30. I’ll be the one covered in glitter.  
**

**(1:32): Haven’t you always been?  
**

* * *

 

“Here, do you like these?”

Gemma pulled a pair of black lacy panties out of her desk drawer and tossed them across the room to Rebecca’s desk. Rebecca kept her head down, her attention still wholly focused on the email she was typing. She caught them in one hand and typed with the other until she was finished and could give her full attention to the pair of underwear dangling from her fingertips. She put them on her hands, one hand in each leg hole, and stretched the elastic.

“These are nice,” Rebecca said with an approving eyebrow raise. “They look kind of similar to the other ones we have— The Tanyas, I think?”

Gemma scrolled through a customer review absentmindedly. “Yeah. The Tanyas have been getting a lot of poor reviews because you can stick your finger right through the lace if you’re not careful, and then they’re ruined for good.”

Rebecca stood up from her rolling chair and pulled on the pair of panties over her black leggings, nearly folding herself in half to get her long legs through them.  
“Oh, yeah,” she nodded. “Toss me the others?”

Gemma abandoned her computer and spun around in her swivel chair so she could scan the wall of drawers behind her desk until she found the one labeled Panties—T—Tanya. Rebecca caught those too and held them up next to ones she had on, her oversized t-shirt (dark gray with a photo of Brad Pitt circa the middle of Legends of the Fall on the pocket with no context or explanation whatsoever, a secret Santa gift from Gemma) tucked into the front.

Rebecca did a little squat move followed by a series of leg kicks. “These are great!” She exclaimed. “And the lining prevents putting your finger through the lace. Does the lining come in different shades?”

Gemma checked a paper on her clipboard. “Yep: white, black, and then six different skin tones.”

Rebecca slipped the panties off again, being careful not to trip herself as she maneuvered her boots out of the leg holes.  
“I’m all for it. Put the old ones on clearance and call these ‘Tanya II’.” Rebecca punctuated her genius suggestion with a flick of her long, straight hair, sending it over her shoulder.

Gemma’s fingers flitted across her keyboard for a few moments before she returned her attention to her assistant. She picked up the Tanya II’s and held them out to Rebecca on one finger.

“You can have these. Consider it a gift for your hard work,” she said, her lip scowling in fake disgust.

“I only had them on over my pants, rude. Plus, from what I hear, you’re getting way more action than I am. You should keep them.” She curled her lip deviously as she tucked the panties away in Gemma’s purse, and she said, “People draw their own conclusions when the customer service supervisor hasn’t arrived to work in her own car for nearly three weeks.”

“I ride the bus.”

“Oh, is the bus named Rachel Salomon now?”

“Rebecca!”

“Oh, come on, Gem! There hasn’t been any good gossip since that intern got caught taking dick pics in the supply closet, and that was almost four weeks ago. Don’t deprive me of the sweet nectar of life. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

By this point she was practically begging at Gemma’s feet, but even on her knees she was nearly as tall as Gemma was in her chair.

“Alright, alright,” Gemma hissed in a whisper. “But get off the floor.”

Rebecca clapped her hands and did a little happy dance as she stood up and moved herself to Gemma’s desktop. Gemma rolled her eyes a little.

“If you repeat any of this to anyone, I will fire your ass and send you back to New Mexico faster than you can snap your fingers.”

Rebecca nodded enthusiastically. “I swear.” She made an X on her chest with her index finger. “Cross my heart.”

Gemma glanced at the office door before continuing ruefully. “I got into an argument with my br—roommate and Rachel is letting me stay at her condo while I sort things out with him.”

Rebecca leaned forward on the desk and her eyes searched Gemma’s face for a sign that there was more to the story. “What? That’s it? The story’s not even sexy?”

“No, it’s not. You asked, I told. I’m sharing an apartment with the boss.”

“You’re lying,” Rebecca accused. “You have ‘fornicator’ practically written on your forehead.”

Gemma shot Rebecca a dirty look, but Rebecca just shrugged it off.

Gemma ran a hand through her hair as she bit her lip to keep herself from saying what was coming next, and yet it was coming up anyway. “It’s only happened twice, okay? And the first time was, like, a long time ago, so it almost doesn’t count.”

“I knew it!” Rebecca shouted.

“Keep your voice down!”

“How long have you. . .”

Gemma scrunched her eyebrows and pretended to organize the little plastic caddy that held pens and pencils at the edge of her desk. “I told you, we’ve been friends since high school.”

“I mean, like, when did you first kiss or something.”

“Spin the bottle, tenth grade, Callie Rice’s house. My first experience with the demon of Fireball whisky.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes. “First kiss that wasn’t a dare.”

“The next morning, Callie Rice’s house. My first experience with the demon of the Fireball whisky hangover.”

Rebecca placed her hand over her heart and wiped an invisible tear from her eye. “That’s beautiful,” she said around an imaginary lump in her throat.

Gemma swiveled uncomfortably in her office chair. “If you say so. What time is it?”

Rebecca glanced at the watch on her left wrist. “Three minutes to five.”

Gemma dropped her head back over the edge of her comfortable, lumbar-supporting chair. “Fuck,” she groaned. “I have to get ready to go.”  
“Go? Go where?”

“I have a wedding. . . thing tonight and I still have to go pick up my dresses from the cleaners before they close at six,” Gemma explained as she logged out of her computer and shoved a couple of important papers from her desk into her handbag.

“Wait, so are you guys going together?”

Gemma hiked her purse up onto her shoulder and stared at Rebecca for half a second before nodding and swiping her cell phone out of its dock at the corner of her desk. As she slid past Rebecca en route to the door, she realized she wasn’t exactly sure if they were going together. She hadn’t thought to ask. Gemma paused with her hand on the brushed silver door handle. “It’s Rachel’s sister’s wedding and Rachel is the maid of honor. I’m filling in for a bridesmaid who has the flu. Does. . . does that count as a date?”

Rebecca shrugged and diverted her gaze to her nail beds. “That depends on if you dance with her. If you dance, it’s a date.” She then raised an eyebrow in belated surprise. “I didn’t know Rachel had a sister. I always had her pegged as an only child.”

Gemma nodded and continued out the door as she had originally planned, fishing her office keys out of her bag. “She’s a twin.”

“There are two Rachel Salomons on this planet and I didn’t know about it?”

“Before you get your panties in a bunch,” Gemma snorted. “Hadassah is very. . . high-strung. I’ve known her for as long as I’ve known Rachel and I’ve never been able to spend more than 20 minutes with her before I start looking for the nearest window to jump out of, so the next two days will be a real blast for me. Plus, they’re fraternal.”

Rebecca reached into Gemma’s purse, helping herself to one of the Twix bars Gemma kept stashed in the side pocket.

“Sounds like quality drama to me. Keep me updated,” she said around a mouthful of cookie and chocolate. “I gotta pee. Have fun at the wedding!”And with that, Rebecca was gone, already down the hall in the opposite direction Gemma was headed, her long legs and arms swinging in strange rhythm as she loped toward the restrooms at the end of the corridor.

* * *

Friday, October 3rd

**Stepdan (4:15): I remember you used to talk about the nurse from Presbyterian who called you. What’s her name and are you still in contact with her?  
**

**(4:15): Her name is Kate De Luca but I think her whole name might be either Katherine or Katarina or something like that. I haven’t seen her in a long time, but we’re friends on Facebook.  
**

**Stepdan (4:17): OK. I’m going to try to get ahold of her. She would be a good witness. Try to stay out of contact with her until I let you know what she says.  
**

**(4:18): Cool. See you at dinner.  
**

**Stepdan (4:24): Yes, see you then.  
**

**Stepdan (4:24): PS, your mother wants to know if Harry is coming to dinner. She needs to know how much wine we need.  
**

* * *

 

“I’m not doing it for you, Lottie! Just take the wrench and—just like that! Good job!”

Johannah took a sip of her red wine in the comfort of her padded deck chair. “It’s like watching a nature documentary,” she said.

“Or the beginning of _Les Misérables_ when they’re all rowing that giant ship forward. Same intensity.”

Jay sputtered a laugh into her glass as she took the last sip of wine from it, trying hard not to send it shooting out her nose.

“You’re right,” she agreed as she reached for the bottle of pinot noir on the table between them, offering it to Harry first. He glanced down at his half-full glass and shook his head. Johannah shrugged and filled her glass again, being careful not to jostle Elizabeth who was sleeping lightly in her lap, her head resting against Johannah’s t-shirt-clad chest. She had made it all the way through dinner and three rounds of charades (as a giggly spectator) before passing out in her Nana’s arms on the back deck as Johannah and Harry watched Louis teach the girls how to take apart the pier that extended from the lake house’s backyard into the water. The abstainers looked on as Louis and all of his siblings who could walk finished loosening the bolts and lifted the wooden pier top off of its frame, leaving six metal poles sticking up out of the water. The pier was shoved away somewhere around the side of the house, probably in the shed, and then the girls were reappearing, shoving one another toward the water in their one-piece swimsuits and track shorts.

“Mom! Daisy. . . is. . . trying to push me in. . . the lake!” Phoebe shouted toward the house, struggling to hold her twin sister back.

Jay took a long drink from her glass. “That’s my cue to run,” she said as she hurried to stand and hastily transfer Elizabeth from her arms to Harry’s.

“Mom!”

“Sorry, honey, I gotta go. . . uh. . . change the babies. You’ll figure it out, sweetie. Use your words,” Johannah called back to her as she was sliding the glass door closed, a huge grin spreading across her face. She disappeared into the house, and there was a loud splash as Louis picked up both of his twin sisters and tossed them into the lake, their thin limbs flailing all around them. The two older girls ran, knowing they were next, but Louis caught them eventually too and held them around their waists until he could fling them into the water.

“You’re next!” Fizzy said ominously as she rose from the water with her dark hair plastered to her forehead.

“Oh, I bet!” Louis answered, backing away from her slowly then breaking into a run when Fizzy had fully emerged from the murky lake.

Harry watched Louis being chased toward the deck by his younger sister, and he reached for his Nikon on the table next to his chair and raised it slowly to his eye to snap a picture. Louis and Fizzy ran into the frame, Fizzy’s arms reaching out for her brother’s waist. Harry poised his index finger over the shutter button as Louis stopped and spun around in a circle with his younger sister wrapped around him, a delighted laugh escaping from his throat when her weight sent them tumbling onto the sandy, muddy ground.

Click.

“Maybe next time, Fizz. Maybe next time.”

She grabbed a fistful of sand and clay and shoved it in her brother’s face. Harry smiled and snapped another picture.

“I see how it is, Photographer Boy!” Louis called, pointing an accusatory finger at Harry. “Your camera is out of reach when she arises from the deep like the Loch Ness Monster, but it’s in perfect position to take a picture of me getting a sand facial.”

Louis came closer, tracking sand up the stairs and leaving wet footprints on the dark wood. Harry wrapped his arms tighter around Elizabeth as Louis drew closer, eliciting a smirk from Louis who was now at the foot of the deck chair, his left knee resting on the end.

Louis reached past Harry for the camera that had been set back on the table.

“You,” Louis said, aiming the lens at Harry, “are so lucky you are holding my baby or else you would be in the lake right now.”

“Maybe next time, Louis. Maybe next time,” Harry said slowly, reaching out for his camera with one hand as Louis snapped another picture. After that, he gave up and reached for his glass of wine instead, posing with it before taking a drink.

“This would be a lot better revenge if you didn’t still look so good,” Louis said offhandedly as he scrolled through the photos on the camera’s LCD screen. Harry was glad Louis was distracted; otherwise, he might have witnessed him turning a deep shade of crimson.

“My arm is falling asleep,” Harry announced, kind of to Louis, but mostly to himself. “I’m going to put her on the couch.”

Louis hurried to follow Harry toward the back door of the house, catching him by the elbow. “I can take her.”

Harry glanced down to where Louis had a grip on him, his fingers wrapped loosely around the crease in his arm. He swallowed hard and shook his head. “That’s okay. You’re all. . . covered in sand and you’re wet—you’re damp.” And before Harry could be too embarrassed, there was a strike of lighting across the lake, followed shortly by a crack of thunder so loud it shook the window panes.

“You’d better, uh, get them out of the water,” Harry suggested. “It’s probably not too safe.”

Louis, though, had never taken his attention off of Harry through the song and dance of the imminent storm. Before he could do anything, the glass door was sliding open and Harry was stepping inside. Louis watched as Harry disappeared into the house, presumably to lay Elizabeth down on the couch.

“Girls, inside, now!” Louis shouted, causing Fizzy, who was still lying in the sand near the house, to stand and begin brushing herself off before jogging inside, her other sisters now close behind and soaked in lake water with bits of algae and clay clinging to the lower halves of their legs. “Just our luck, huh?” Louis asked, throwing a lazy arm around Lottie’s shoulders as she trotted up the steps. She shrugged him off but hugged him around the waist almost immediately after.

“This storm is looking pretty nasty,” Dan said bleakly as his eyes trained on the Doppler radar on the Weather Channel.

Louis slid the patio door shut behind him.

“Lottie, honey, go roll up the windows in my car, please,” Johannah said, finishing off her glass of wine as she tossed her car keys to her eldest daughter with her free hand. “Nice catch. Daisy, Phoebe, shower, now. Fizz, will you please go make sure they actually—“

“Mom, really?” Daisy whined. “That was one time.”

“One time barely wetting your body under the showerhead and wrapping your dirty hair up in a towel was enough. You’re not to be trusted. Go on.”

Dan stood from his vigilant perch on the couch and crossed to the kitchen where he helped himself to one of the bottles of sparkling water Johannah always left for the renters as a welcome gift.

“I don’t have a good feeling about you driving home in this weather, Louis.” Johannah said, reaching for one of the fancy green bottles herself, a thing she would never do unless she was sure there would be no more renters for the year.

* * *

**2010**

“Hello?” Louis slurred into the phone that was shoved between his head and the pillow.

“Louis William Tomlinson,” his mother’s voice answered, her tone cool and collected which meant she had spent at least eight hours being angry and the worst had already passed. “I do not want to know what is going on right now, and I especially do not want to know what went on last night, so long as there were no police involved.”

There hadn’t been, at least not that Louis could recall.

“There is a storm coming your way. Stay there until it passes. That will give you plenty of time to be sure that the lake house is clean and free of any structural damage. When it’s safe, I want you home and I want you in one piece. If you can do that for me, this is your one Mulligan, but if this ever—I mean ever—happens again, you won’t see the light of day until you’re 40. Do you understand me?”

Louis groaned a little. “Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Louis turned over in the bed, the pillowcase crinkling against the speaker of the phone and Harry’s arm weighing on Louis’s waist. He ended up on his back, and Harry was nuzzled into his neck for only a brief second before he rolled away, his back now to Louis, the navy blue sheets draped over his hips.

“Are you still there?” Johannah asked.

“Hmm?” Louis hummed, his eyes still trained on the rise and fall of Harry’s ribcage as he breathed.

“Every single one of my Pellegrinos better be in that refrigerator and accounted for.”

“Okay, Mom.” Louis said with a roll of his eyes he was almost sure she would be able to sense. Instead, there was another long pause, during which Louis wondered if he should hang up the phone or just wait. He waited, and after several moments, she spoke again.

“Louis?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, son.”

“I love you too, Mama.”

Johannah sighed quietly into the phone. “Okay,” she said, “go back to sleep. You sound like hell. See you at home.”

Then, there was half a second of silence followed by the soft click of the call being ended. Louis pulled the phone away from his face and stared at the blank screen for a while before tossing the thing off to the side, knowing he would regret it later when it was nowhere to be found.

“Everything okay?” Harry asked, rolling over to face Louis.

“Wonderful.” Louis threw his arm over Harry’s waist and closed his eyes against the bright sun streaming in through the bedroom blinds.

* * *

**Present**

_I woke up this morning, and what did I see way up in the sky?_

_I saw a pretty rainbow smiling down at me, higher than the birds can fly_

_See the red and yellow, purple and green_

_Pink and orange and blue_

_Won’t you come along with me and sing_

_You can be a rainbow, too_

_You can be a rainbow if you try; wave your colors high_

_Red and yellow and purple and blue_

_You can be a rainbow, too_

Louis ended the song for the fifth time, this time singing the last line on his own as Elizabeth’s eyes drifted closed and she barely moved her lips along with his words.

“Are you ready to go to sleep now, little one?” He asked, smoothing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Bee nodded and snuggled Lottie’s old stuffed rabbit closer to her.

“Do we need to sing the song again?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I’ll be fine,” she said, her voice uncertain as another bolt of lightning struck somewhere outside.

“Okay,” Louis said soundly, standing up straight. He pulled the comforter up to Elizabeth’s chest and tucked it in around her sides, which made her laugh.

“I’ll leave the hallway light on for you, okay?”

He received no answer as his daughter was already falling back to sleep. Louis slipped out of the room, leaving the door half-open behind him. He switched on the hall light on and left it on as he stepped into his old bedroom right next door.

Louis’s lake house room was nothing special by most people’s standards. It was a basic square room with enough space for a full sized bed, a nightstand, and a desk. The walls were painted a crisp white with a navy blue stripe running all the way around at chair rail height. The banner was decorated with little white anchors and ship wheels that matched the nautical tchotchkes that Johannah had chosen to place on small shelves on either side of the bed. (“To make the room feel like it has a theme!” she had said all those years ago.) Louis kicked off his shoes and tossed them to the side of the door where he knew he wouldn’t forget them. He ran his hand lightly over the top of the antique dresser. It was spotless, free of dust or fingerprints or anything else unsavory, but it felt different. Louis hadn’t been in this room in years, and it felt too small and somehow unfamiliar, like a pair of leather shoes left in the sun too long on a hot day. It looked exactly the same, but there were so many things he had forgotten to remember about this room, and they all came rushing back in a wave of giddy nostalgia.

He could remember rolling out of this bed to throw up in the Jack and Jill bathroom the first time he and his friends had thrown a party for five and proceeded to get completely trashed on Natural Light and MD 20/20. He could still hear the sounds of everyone singing along to Johannah’s old records in the den once when they had all come out during the off-season, Gemma’s (off-key) harmonies drifting up the stairs and into his room like an invitation for him to join her, which he always had followed. He remembered kissing Harry here all those years ago and watching him bop his head to a song only he could hear as he ate an egg sandwich and got crumbs all over the sheets.  
Louis hadn’t let himself stare too long back then. He had been afraid that Harry would catch him taking a mental picture, that he would notice Louis trying to collect the little pieces that made that moment so beautiful: the morning light on Harry’s bare torso, the clean white sheets pooling in his lap, the dopey grin on his face when he tried to get egg yolk off his chin without putting his sandwich down. Louis knew now that, in all reality, Harry had probably known he was staring all along, so he should have looked just a little longer because it certainly had been beautiful.

Louis turned on the hot water in the bathroom between his room and his sisters’, the water only reaching lukewarm before he became impatient and stripped off his knee-length denim cut-offs, leaving them in a heap at the edge of the bathmat. By the time his naked body was under the shower stream, the water was only slightly warmer and he made quick work of washing away the lake residue from his legs and torso. He used some of his sisters’ flowery shampoo and even ran a little conditioner through his hair, just because it was there, and once it was all rinsed out, the water had gone back cold, so he just shut it off and reached out of the shower curtain for the towel he had left hanging on the doorknob. He half-assedly patted himself dry with the towel and pulled on the pair of boxers and t-shirt he kept in the locked desk drawer. He gathered the pile of discarded clothes and carried them into the bedroom so he could toss them next to his shoes so they couldn’t be forgotten in the morning. After that, he realized he had run out of busy work for himself, so he reached into the top of the closet and pulled down a couple of blankets that looked like they would suffice and spread them over the thin bedspread already covering the bed. He set his phone to charge at the desk before he lifted the bedclothes and slid into the bed, his body thanking him as he did so. As soon as he closed his eyes, Louis realized that he had left the lights on, but he couldn’t bring himself to worry about it enough to stop himself from closing his eyes again and drifting to sleep.

* * *

“I’m starving,” Gemma whispered under her breath.

Rachel smirked and elbowed Gemma gently in the ribs. “It’ll be over soon.”

“Rachel? Okay, when I get ready to leave, you have to hand me my bouquet, but, like, I want you to be crying a little. Happy tears. Happy tears, hand me the bouquet, and then, like, gaze after me with a smile. Make sure the camera can see you, okay? Make sure the tears look _happy_.”

“Haddie, I promise you, I will have never been happier than I will be when I see you walking down that aisle, away from me.”

Hadassah tightened her grip on her fiancé’s arm and shot Rachel a tight-lipped smile.

“Oh-kay,” Hadassah said, punctuating each syllable with a small tug on Mark’s arm. “If everyone is still mentally present, I think we should run through it again, from the top.”

Gemma dropped her head back as Haddie continued past her to return to the back of Orchard Hall where she would prepare to restart the rehearsal of the ceremony.

“Come on, come on! We haven’t got all night!” Hadassah urged once she was in place, realizing that none of the wedding party had followed her.

Gemma grumbled mild curses under her breath again as Rachel led her to the back of the open space where Haddie was waiting impatiently, her toilet paper veil looking strikingly out of place juxtaposed with the death glares she was shooting her sister. Rachel pretended not to see her as she took her spot at the front of the line next to the best man, Mark’s younger brother, Leon, who wore glasses and was moderately attractive aside from the fact that he smelled like he had rolled around in a vat of every Abercrombie cologne ever manufactured.

Rachel turned around as the harpist and the small orchestra behind her began the seemingly endless [Grandjany’s Aria](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5YYYllJVI8). Her long, brown, subtly highlighted hair was in two French braids trailing down the back of her denim shirt, and she winked at Gemma, whispering, “Meet me by the back doors as soon as we’re finished. We’ll make a break for it.”

* * *

After what felt like five whole minutes of restful sleep, Louis awoke again to a dark room and a warm body settling in next to him. Louis felt disoriented as he flicked on the bedside lamp and rolled onto his other side, lifting his torso off the mattress so he could see who was slinking into his bed in the middle of the night.

“You scared the shit out of me!” Louis whispered into Harry’s mess of brown hair fanned out on the pillow.

“Shhhh. We were having a good time. Your mom taught me to two-step!” Harry said excitedly, his voice slurring, just barely, as he said “two-step”.

“What time is it?”

“Almost three. Sleep now, please.” Harry rolled over onto his other side so he was facing Louis with his hands tucked under his chin.

Louis couldn’t help but let a smile slip onto his face before he reached for the lamp again and made the room go dark. He relaxed back into his side of the bed, facing Harry and drifting smoothly back to sleep. Louis remained mostly unconscious but registered movement several minutes later as Harry sat up and pulled off his shirt. After that, Harry fell directly into a deep sleep and so did Louis, who had given up on questioning why Harry was in his bed to begin with.

 


End file.
